Abu Dhabi-based real estate development and investment company Aldar Properties recently named former Mubadala head of legal Brett Alexander Scrymgeour as its new legal head. Scrymgeour is also part of the developer’s executive management team.
As head of legal for the real estate and hospitality unit of state fund Mubadala, Scrymgeour had helped bail out the indebted developer last year. Prior to joining Mubadala, he was with Clifford Chance at its London and Abu Dhabi as a real estate lawyer, Aldar said in a statement to The Brief.
In late October last year, Aldar had named another former Mubadala executive, Greg Fewer, as its chief financial officer - a further sign of the Abu Dhabi government exerting further influence on the troubled developer. Four out of Aldar's seven board members are from Mubadala as well. In fact, the state fund owns a 28 percent stake in Aldar, according to its financial statements for the first half of 2011.
Aldar, the biggest developer in Abu Dhabi by market value, was hit by slumping property prices in the United Arab Emirates, which forced it to sell key projects to the government. This included the Ferrari World theme park.
Abu Dhabi bailed out the cash-strapped developer in January 2011 with a $5.2 billion rescue package in exchange for some of its key assets. Aldar also issued a $2.8 billion convertible bond to state investment vehicle Mubadala in March 2011. The government threw an additional 16.8 billion dirham lifeline to Aldar in December, bought assets from the struggling developer, and also retired a loan.
Abu Dhabi fared better than neighbouring emirate Dubai, which saw a collapse in its property market as well as the restructuring of its flagship firm Dubai World. However, the emirate is facing new challenges now as a huge supply of high-end homes are expected to enter the market, raising competition in the market and putting further pressure on the property market. ALB
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